UNBIASED GEAR REVIEW - NK Headless 6-string Guitar
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- HEY EVERYONE, I AM AN IDIOT!!! There WAS a tool to access the trussrod all along, I just never found it until I was about to ship this thing off. I'm dumb.
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DISCLAIMER - all views contained herein are mine and mine alone. My comments merely reflect my own, individual experience with this gear. They do not necessarily reflect what your personal experience may be as a potential customer of the brand I am reviewing.
NK Headless 6-string guitar
Ash body
Maple Neck
Maple Fretboard
24 frets
25.5" scale
Artecsound Alnico 5 humbuckers
KD Bridge
Luminous side dots
Comes with gig bag
Please like and subscribe. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the instrument or the video, please leave a comment.
There are quite a few of these gear review channels but none of them can match your professionalism & panache. You deserve more subscribers. Stay cool.
joseph bernard agufish is pretty good imo....
hes at 13k already and growing
@@RudyAyoub u do be growing too
You been listening to metallica lately?
Very Enter sandman vibe, in a good way
try out the 2018 version
they changed the bridge
I asked the guy who makes those about 7 Strings. They are planning on building those and will use a different bridge system. Maybe those will be more usable.
Glasus Wasserus Do you know when they plan on that?
that would be nice to have a backpack headless 7-string, also multiscale will be super nice
They have just released their 7 string models and they look GREAT. The new bridge looks promising.
Aiden Smith they are already out
You have the most in depth gear reviews out there, and it has really opened my eyes as to what to look for whenever I check out a new guitar. Sadly, I picked up the USA Jackson Corey Bealieu 7-string and every damn fret on both sides of the neck are very sharp..especially the first 3 frets, almost could cut your index finger. The clear coat is also beginning to lift/bubble in an area along the side of the neck where it joins the body. Total letdown, especially on an instrument with this price tag.
Seen our video about that Jackson, was horrifying considering the level of guitar it's supposed to be 😐
I've got the purple one. It looks and feels awesome, the bridge is dog shit. I can't for the life of me, get it strung because as soon as I start tuning up, the strings pull out of the saddle. You also can't get any thicker than .10's so no low tunings. Looks great though...On the wall.
Tf, I've put tens in drop Box before, you just need the right tension.
I'd like to hear your opinion on a lot of the harley bentons, fan fret 6 ,7, and 8 string 2018 models, and the cst models. With the cst models, I was curious on your opinion of the wrap around bridge. It's the only thing that is making me not want to buy it. I love how you go in-depth with your reviews!
P.s. the cst models are the harley benton prs copys.
i have a 150 euro harley benton with a licensed floyd rose and it’s really, REALLY good
I bought one of these when they first cam out for less than $250. Mine has a beautifully flamed neck and fretboard. Leveled, polished, and rounded the fret ends. Put a strat contour on the top bout. No intonation issues. Stays in tune well. (I put small string ferrules into the top of the wooden "headstock " piece ) Plays great. I don't play fuzzed-out metal and for cleaner tones and modest distortion , the pickups sound good. I may put EMG's in it at some point, but I've been playing it for 4 years and I love it. Great bang for the buck. They cost a bit more now.
Arnold, If you haven't seen or heard about Rick Toone guitars....dude you need to check them out.
Truly innovative designs and absolute monsters.
I always have one of these in my basket but never clicked the buy button...
story of my life
Similar story
@@RudyAyoub N0 Br0,
take my mon$y
Just go for it dude, thing looks bad ass, it’s useable, I’ve had a few ibanez’s that probably play worse than this guitar
@@RudyAyoub bro i knew i could find you around here
What a fat juicy sound . Very good video , thank a lot . Thumb up and suscribing . And cheers from france. ,
Hey man I'm curious to hear what you're feeling about those agile headless guitars. Idk they look alright but I feel sketchy. Also not sure but I'd like to see a halo guitars review as well. Love the content you're truly an educator 🤘
well I asked him about Halo a year ago, and he said in general that he would review any guitar if it would be sent to him
Can't comment on the headless range from Agile specifically, but their guitars are excellent purchases if you're in the US so you can easily return if you get a lemon.
Great value and they're arguable more in line with what MIK guitars should cost than what some of these companies are charging.
That toggle switch would need to be heavy duty where they placed it. What a horrible spot to put a toggle switch, right in the way of the pick hand lol.
I got a purple-blue one, and the NK logo glows in the dark lol
Mines transparent blue. With glow in the dark nk logo AND glow in the dark inlays. Lol
I now own this guitar. Bought it directly from David himself. Been playing on it for close to a year now. Gotta say I’m very pleased with it. Yes it is a very “low tier” guitar but hands down best bang for your buck if you’re looking to get into headless guitars.
"You get into a rhythm the more you turn the crank."
I keep trying to tell my girlfriend the same thing.
I own one of these (was intended as a travel guitar, to replace my old Hohner Jack), and I concur with your review - it´s a good-looking novelty instrument with so-so workmanship and a seriously flawed bridge: Tuning stability on mine is so bad it´s definitely not gigable. Bottom line - if you must have a cheap headless, go for it. If you‘re primarily looking for a cheap workhorse kinda guitar, avoid it as the bridge isn‘t as easily replaced as the pickups (= the „practically always shit“ part on lowbie axes w/ conventional bridges) on a similarly priced entry-level Ibanez, Squier, Epi or even a Harley Benton. Would NOT buy again.
Will Arnold ever review an acoustic guitar? Except maybe as an April Fools upload.
Hey Arnold, have you ever thought reviewing an acoustic gutiar? Rondo Music/Agile have a fan fret 8 string acoustic guitar that I'd love to see you do a review on with the same mindset as this, being a low-mid range guitar. Love the reviews, best in the game
The body shape and style of the horns are a direct "homage" to the Skervesen skerveTEN/skerveSIX.
Got one, my only problem with it is that tuning is a pain in the ass. Great axe for it's price
They just updated their fanned fret line with a new, better looking bridge. I'm definitely going to be taking the plunge now.
Been using this model for a year now (total pain in the ass, pickups are fucking garbage) and you know, for a 300euro guitar it's nice, but tunning is hard, forget about any clean tones on this thing and adjusting felt so risky with that trussrod problem (yeah, mine had it as well). I guess i'll keep it, but i'm switching to an Ibanez RGDIM6FM
Feels like your bending on sandpaper? I have a few kmise necks and a chibson copy. I agree, frets do need polishing, so your not bending on sandpaper.
For a cheap-ish headless, I wonder about the Agile models. Think they are Korean made.
Bought one of these a while ago and for what its worth I have absolutely ZERO issues with intonation (Using 11-54s in Standard D tuning for reference). Still have room to work with on the low D as well.
Pickups are for sure dogshit but those are easy enough to replace.
Fuckin love my NK
At 16:30-forward, the pickup are 16k with Alnico-V magnets....AFAIK this is impossible....DiMarzio Super Distortions are around 16k and the magnets are NEVER gonna be Alnico-V's (those are Great-PAF territory)....Ceramic magnets are the rule of above 10k DCR pickups (Lesson to us both - the magnets are Ceramic and therefore, hot). Nevermind that to me as you riff deliciously, the pickups sound great, albeit the signal-chain between your initial recording in the room and my 65"-TV with Sony 100WPC system is nebulously variable, you still sound great here....NEVERMIND the AJ sizzle :-D
I almost ordered one, thank you for saving me the money and the trouble.
The guitar fx sound in this video is probably one of the best of the channel.......you should stay with this config.......I don't know why, in all the others I saw, the distorsion was way too much, like playing the guitar with sandpaper on a boot sole
Hey ArnoldPG :-D The concern that you express at 10:30 is the first real concern to ME out of all of the previous minuses and pluses so far. In the case of that specific instrument, that can be compensated for by a repair person although I feel the pain and reject the total criticisms until I actually had to do it and explain it to an unsuspecting customer expecting PRS/Gibson/Fender for the price of the instrument - that is the only bad thing so far that cannot be corrected easily by a quasi-project guitar enthusiast (which I am). If the same critique was applied to Gibson LP's/SG's, people would hate them to - imagine paying $1200 to $20,000 for a guitar that when, you spun around onstage and hit the back of the headstock on you or your singer's mic-stand, broke off of the neck....I nudged my 1995 Gib SG Standard that was leaning just fine (yep I know) against my entertainment center and it fell over face forward and was my first Gibby headstock break....anyone that's done it says "@#$%^& ME" and later wonders why this happens. The Chibsons I've inspected online....they all have scarf-joints on the neck...they SUCK, but they won't break as quick as a GIbson-revered headstock will.
Anyway this reply is 40-times to long already in words and is easier to display in person with somebody whose allegiances are tempered by guitar-repair/assembly experience.
As a final note and first suggestion to anything not built in the USA since before yr2000, if the electronics suck on fifth try, call it crap and replace it all...the neck and the body are what's important!!!
Cheers :)
Dan G :)
Could you check out a brand called earl they make a headless guitar with a hard tail bridge and a floating bridge you can get them on Amazon for 299.99 they also have a verity of colors
I actually have one for like, a month or so, gonna do setup soon ( shame on me for not doing it earlier) i liked it though... probebly should try more guitars, even though i did. Maybe i got lucky
I have this same one (old style bridge) i guess you could say. 275$ came to me with a total of 7 high frets determined with my fret rocker. Was pretty unplayable out of box because of this. Hours of leveling, crowning, and polishing later and its playing pretty good. Buyer beware you may be lucky but be prepared to do the work yourself or pay to have it done.
@ArnoldPlaysGuitar just fyi your input signal is peaking at around 17:00 when you're playing on the bridge pickup. Need to turn down that input clean sens in your input section bro. that may also be one of the reasons it sounded shitty (regardless of the pickups shittyness). cheers for the review
KING OF THE .... KILL
fucking love Annihilator.
What a piece! No tune No deal
▪sandy frets
▪truss rod issue
▪bad bridge
▪that little tuning tool
▪those pickups
▪intonation issue
▪poor wiring
Save your money
6:40 -- LOL, that's more than Kiesel could do. They're all lined up with no tool marks...haha.
I got one of these last year and it's a fantastic guitar. I do use 9-42 lighter strings and have no intonation problems. My truss rod is fine and your guitar should have shipped with a long tool wrench in the gig bag like mine did. Fretwork was very good on mine. Pickups don't sound bad to me either. The bridge leaves a little to be desired, but overall my NK is sweet. Tuning stability is very good once the strings are stretched in. Also If you learn how to do some basic fretwork/polishing, these cheap guitars can be lots of fun.
I AM AN IDIOT!!! There WAS a tool to access the trussrod all along, I just never found it until I was about to ship this thing off. I'm dumb.
If a product considered as a cheap clone but the original is extra overpriced when making a review about the cheap one telling things to people similar like it plays decent good but the bridge isn't what i was dreaming for,or the electrics of this guitar are no so good as my car's finally means one thing.Dont listen to bs and go get it from yesterday.
Is that thin dark line under the fretboard, so you think it could just be dark wood glue, like what's used on a lot of plywoods? formationswood.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Baltic_Birch_Gallery_4.jpg
China has the worst craftsmanship in the world. I just bought a EVH Kramer 5150 replica guitar for 250$ and it is pretty unusable. I will have to change all the electronics, the fake Floyd Rose tremolo the pickups the tuners and refret the guitar. It’s gonna cost me but it will be good when I fix it.
it's like you bought a cheap knock off or something. oh wait
Bridge may be cheap but it holds tune like a champ. Super easy to string up.
Hey dude. Just watched the video. Thanks again for the honest review. Can’t wait to get this piece home and work some magic on it!
I am confused, you say you don't like it, but you act and play like you enjoyed it.
Any chance of you reviewing the newer models from Nk? 🤔
I think he sent it to you to set up and review...not keep!
What happen to Steinbereger? I feel they had a great system... Double ball ended strings. Great review!
Cyborg octopus? Lol sounds better than most band names these days like "as the wolf wates"
Great review. I was going to mention the tool in the pouch but saw you found it. I bought a NK before stumbling on your review. I mostly agree. The thing anyone needs to know (in my opinion) You don't buy this guitar to play right out of the box. The strings, frets, and pickups are junk. If you aren't going to put in the work, buy a cheap Ibanez (or whatever). There are plenty of decent guitars in the price range. This is a cool looking design and it's very compact. I travel for work now and needed something small and light that I don't really care much about. I played it for 10 minutes, ordered a set of strings and pickups. Since then I've been buffing the frets, tweaking, and prepping. I did not have the same issue with the tension rod or the intonation though. Guess it's a roll of the dice. Clicked to subscribe after the beer review. Icing on the cake. 🤣 Cheers brother.
You still likening this guitar?
there was one in my area for 60usd. I lagged on reaching out to the person and it went quick
Is there anywhere you can still get these for under 300? Now they seem to be anywhere between $350 and 600
So nice to see nice reviews about these guitars.. Ordered mine a week ago with that blue burst like color but asked the seller to put that fluorescent inlays on the fretboard too. :)
Subbed for the nice review!
You fine man,this shit in tune perfectly to my ear,can you tell me pls how bad it is go out off tune?
2 years after. my friend ordered from nk 7 string multiscale. man, no flaws at all. fret work is exceptional, ronunded fret ends, everything is level. Soldering is very good, good quality pots and switch, coil taps.The thing costed around 500 dollars. Amount of details it had is more than 1200 dollar schecter has. As understand they improved by a lot. quality vise is on level with dingwall bass what he ordered month before, which costs around 5 times more.
I mean I believe it’s a good guitar, but why compare it to a Schecter of all things? Schecter doesn’t even make headless instruments so this comparison is just strange to me
Edit: also the biggest worry with something like an NK is the quality can be drastic from guitar to guitar and even more so from production line to production line. So while some are great others have flaws. Happy your friend has such a sick axe tho 🤘
BTW they have also new models with active pup+ (very BAD false “Jcustom” RTREM). Could someone make a TEST. I personally changed all my Chinese Trem to true Jcustom; That ‘s real weak point of these Chinese headless ! RTREM also has some issues, no ball bearing, strings break at saddle...XSII like my HH2X is better, but the price are not justified. Just my 2 cents...Cheers. Your videos are awesome, fun, and valuable, Thanhs Arnold.
Please note that there are different models than just this.
My friends trying to sell me one for $300. Ty for helping me pass lol
I like the engineering of this bridge, still it's better than Floyd Rose)
So weird how these cheap chinese Ebay Nk's keep ending up on every channel, lol, like how could that happen, what a mystery... How to spin a turd into gold?
As for the intonation issue ... I have the same problem on a Brian Moore iGuitar I bought last year. (NOT a "cheap" guitar.) I've discussed reshaping the neck pocket to allow bringing the whole neck closer to the bridge to allow the range of intonation to be acceptable. Question - might your intonation issue be related to the fact that you're down tuning? Have you tried using a set of 009's or 010's in standard tuning? Great job with the video. I subscribed!
Hey Arnold (lol), any chance you can review a Simon Padalka guitar? I'm interested in the offset Tele one but tbh I'd love to see any of them in your hands...They have quite a few models you'd probably love, headless, that use hipshot hardware.
Hey so basically what you're saying is that you should have the frets leveled (with a little edge rounding), swap the pups, and maybe find a replacement bridge and it'd be a good instrument? Because even with all those extra steps taken it's far less costly than any other headless guitar...
Please review a Mayones guitar.
This review is awesome like every other. Great job 👍
Mr. Meeseeks 100% agree. There are like zero quality reviews of a Mayones Regius going through every nook and cranny. I would also like to see him review a Caparison as well. Zero in-depth reviews of those either.
I mention this on every video but I'd prefer to see him review a Setius and see if they really are as solid as the Regius or Duvell models, which I think they are :) Also yes to Caparison, I often forget about them.
I’m sure if one of you sent him one he would gladly review it. Those are Cadillacs and not everyone can just spring for one!
I knew this guitar was going to be garbage, but thanks anyway, I like your style of in depth reviewing.
I would luuurve to see you review a Mayones, preferably a Setius as I believe they are on par with anything on the more expensive end. Also are you going to get hold of one of those new RAN headless models? They look fuckin sick.
Would also like to see reviewed: Ormsby Goliath, Aviator Warbird, Kiesel Zeus, anything by Mermet Guitars, Tom Anderson, Framus Custom shop, anything by Hapas.
I understand you don't take requests but at least there are some suggestions to throw around the ole' noggin.
Hmm...so either the bridge is in the wrong place, or the 12th fret on the low string is too high. The frets can be leveled / polished, all that can be fixed, but if the bridge is in the wrong place there's nothing you can really do about that. Bummer.
That so funny you did this review the day I bought and canceled my order of one these. Not worth it, I'm gonna save up for something nicer. I got too many 6 strings anyways
That's fucking horrible
Thanks for the video, i was looking at these. I really want a headless 7 string.
Honestly same. I've been wanting to try out a headless fan fret 7 string for a while now. Dont want to spend to much money incase I just don't like this style of guitar
It's easy to fix the 6th string intonation on this type of bridge. There are 2 little screws that tighten the roller. Remove both completely and then rotate the roller back past 12 oclock. Then reinsert the two screws. Now you can move the roller assembly forward using the third little screw which secures the roller assembly onto the bridge. Now you have a lot of travel to move the roller back and also adjust the stting height. This will allow you perfect 6th string intonation. You might want to do this on the 5th string too. Hope this helps all interested in this guitar and this really neat bridge.
Excellent video.
What do you think about the capacity of neck ajustement ?
Would you be concerne if you need to put heavy strings like 11-49 ?
Greetings from Switzerland 🇨🇭
Arnold, you can fix the bridge intonation problem by puting a smaller string gauge for that string
That bridge is not good ?, i saw on Lazada and plan to buy it
At 14:09...I definitely agreed with you with aghast until a thought crossed my mind. You are tuning it in Drop-D with I assume a standard "E" string guage (046-052?-ish) - would the Low-E have intonated much better using a heavier-guage Low-E string?!? I'm at the edge of my knowledge but a heavier-guage string will be less flubby and may be easier to correct the intonation-issue...
Last note.... Frank Zappa "Shut Up and..." ...ENJOY..."Your Guitar!"....a true GNN statement with Brad Linzy in mind....Brad Linzy has no idea that I'm ascribing to him nor his GNN left-handed, yet still, right-handed guitar views!!!
Cheers,
Gan Dibbs :-D
I still can't believe it took me so long to find your channel. What could be better beer and guitars... oops sorry guitar reviews with a short beer review at the end. I'll just finish off with my own review: Liefmans Goudenband 2017. Usual Sarsaparilla type smell, with the usual mix of Sarsaparilla, woody, vinous, citrous notes. Truly one of the best sour old brown beers in the world . Kicks Rodenbach's ass all day long :) Still looking forward to a Harley Benton Review. Just about to splash out on a kit SG (with no great expectations) just for the hell of it. But would be interested to here about the 'real' guitars. Cheers from Belgium
Would you have been able to intonate it if it would have been tuned in E? Is intonation not affected by down tunings?
Low string is probably too big and can't get enough tension, a 52 is a relatively large low string, it's the same size as my 7 string's low G in drop G.
happy NK went to a different bridge design
Hey! Thank you for making all those awesome reviews! I was wondering if you can make a review of that Kamper at the back that you use? I'm considering buying one and I wonder if I can plug it directly into my sound card. Also if it has e cabinet simulations?
Still better than the Egan
I bought one. I am a luthier, so the first thing I did was remove the frets. I re-leveled the fingerboard and installed EVO wire. The pickups are garbage. I found the pickups were causing intonation issues on my strobe tuner. All in all, the basic construction of mine was very good. Neck pocket was super tight. Worth $200, but needs better pickups and a good fret level and dressing.
I've been enjoying these cheap guitar reviews you've been doing. There is a plethora of them out here, but the detail you put forth is missed in many of them. What are the odds of you considering picking up one of the Duvell copies out on AliExpress for a review? I suspect they'd need the typical pickup/tuners/bridge swap, but would probably be a hell of a lot easier than the bridge on the NK
That schecter sun valley looks so nice, excited for the review
Does anyone have any experience with the newer 2018 models of this guitar with the different bridge setup that they feature? I forget specifically what its called but they look to be of better build quality. Cant seem to find to many reviews on that one. I'm also torn on getting one of these headless knock offs OR that schecter sun valley in the back there. Thoughts?
Arnold, you should check out the LTD MH-350NT. One of my favorite ESP brand guitars. Absolutely love it. I know what you'll say about the EMGs though, "They're sterile". It is one awesome guitar to play though. It shreds and screams like a badass metal guitar because it is a metal guitar. Might be kind of hard to find though because they only made the model for a couple of years.
COnsidering upgrading the bridge, the pickups,.... fret levelling. It will be better to buy a KEISEL , Strandberg classic or Legator
19:30 Arrgh....Same for the Gibson G-string easy-slip issue....don't get us started on Fender with anything but a Guitar star like Jeff, Eric, or Rory, or Stevie, or Jimi or...Ad infinitum.......
Hi. Whats is the weight of this nk? Thank you
I appreciate the review. I'm thinking that the pickups are better for Classic Rock then for metal. I was thinking that to intro sounded good for that. Bummer about the intonation not setting up. A fix for that would be to remove some wood from the body where it hits the neck, that way you could scoot the neck back. Not a job for a beginner, certainly. Thanks Arnold!
I like that riff a lot. When you first started playing
Yeah, I thought that sounded good, too.
$200 guitar that needs $600 in upgrades
Despite the problems I thought it sounded awesome
Me too!
the opening riff is dope
These guitar look like shark bite...Looks cool..I have warlock hummingbird...... Its cool that u talk of music n drinks..hahahaha.....PEACE
nice review! will you be reviewing the corona guitar in the future? I heard it's a korean brand and it makes headless guitar too. this could be a great alternative choice of kiesel and strandberg minus the shitty quality of chinese manufacturer.
What happened to your ears dude?
Hey Arnold!! Just ran into a guitar company I’ve never heard of before called tagua guitars. You should check them, I’d love to hear your take on one of there instruments! Keep up the awesome reviews man🙏🏻
Plus sub. Great review you definitely deserve more subscribers. Was looking in eBay for a cheap headless. Looked up reviews for it and found yours.
i reckon ill grab a 7 string one of these and use it as a bus guitar for travelling to and from work, beats this shitty encore im using atm seeing as im not gonna take my strandberg on the bus to play on the go lol plus i can always slam it up in the workshop and give it a refinish if needed.
I normally can't make out the differences between high end guitars, but withthis thing being so cheap and having those terrible pickups, it just sounds like shit
Alec Osborne it may be that he played through a kemper. No disrespect to those amps. But I play through an engl thunder 50 and a fender super sonic. It roared through the engl and with split coils engaged, I can get super duper fucking solid tele tone through the fender
Hey!! As to the KD-Design bridge....from what I've hear said on different reviews, the tuners suck due to HEAVY drag issues. The problem is the same as my Steinberger Spirit guitars that I bough 12 years ago. The analogy is automobile braking systems ie, metal on metal. about 11 years ago, I found a vendor that sold small "thrust bearings"...I installed them between the rotating tuner knobs and the body of the vibrato (tremelo) body and it was like the sun came up in the morning and the new day never ended with regard to tuning ever again! I can tell from the pictures of the KD/ND whatever bridge that the thrust bearings are what is missing - even the Strandberg fixed-bridge copies have them and they are easily visible in the photos when you know what you're seeing :)